Mackland Ames
by montez
Summary: Ridley's Brotherhood. Part one-the Scholar, Part two-the Doctor, Part three-the Father. Mac's thoughts/POV during the events of Ridley's 'Still Unbroken' Must read first to understand my story.
1. Chapter 1

Mackland Ames-the Scholar  
Part one  
Disclaimer: Still don't own them, but a girl can dream. Winchester's created by Kripke. Brotherhood characters created by Ridley.

_A/N: This is may be a one-shot, depends on how it goes over. This is Mac's POV from Ridley's story 'Still Unbroken'. As I mentioned I don't know if I'll continue to include what happened once the boys reached the farm or when Caleb disappeared then was found. Let me know what you guys think, should try and continue?-Montez_

I had just hung up the phone; another possible source to how we could try and stop the end of the world had just fallen through. 'Stopping the end of the world', that sounded so ridicules, like the plot to another disaster movie, but as unreal as it seemed that is exactly where we were finding ourselves. Now more than ever I missed my brothers; Jim and John. Not just for their status in the Brotherhood, though the Guardian's wisdom and the Knight's single-mindedness would be much welcomed. It was just the need to have someone to tell me I'm doing the right thing, that focusing on the larger picture was the way to go. As the Scholar my role had almost always been research, but with the death of my friends and two-thirds of my Triad, I had been thrust into the controls of an organization that was so much bigger than one man.

As the days became darker, after the deaths of Jim and John, I never dreamed we would have to face what we have over the last three years. Sam's death and resurrection at the overwhelming price of Dean's soul. The year-long fight to try and find a way to break the deal the future Guardian had made. Nearly losing Joshua to the demon Ruby as she helped the Demon Meg/Rose, the very demon that had stolen Jim from us, set a trap for the future Triad. Having to watch as Sam and Caleb tried everything they could think of, including tapping in the darker sides of their psychic abilities, only to return to the farm the morning after Dean's deal was due to find both boys clinging to the shredded corpse of their brother, a boy that was as much my son as he was John's.

The four months that followed had been terrible, as Sam and Caleb lost themselves into the world of hunting, drawing unwanted attention to the future Scholar and Knight as they threw themselves into the fight against evil with a reckless abandonment that had me fearful for their own souls. Then the miraculous return of Dean from the pits of Hell, by none other than an Angel from God, Castiel. Who seems to have become the only Heavenly ally we now have in this fight between good and evil. Then the revelation that the Archangel Michael was trying to claim Dean as his vessel in order to fight Lucifer in the final battle. Then if that wasn't bad enough, Lucifer was after Sam for his vessel, with Caleb desperately trying to save both brothers from their supposed Angelic, cosmic fate.

I've been worried about my son lately, I've always worried, but as the time draws near that I feel I should step aside and allow the next Triad to take shape, I worry that I am putting too much on his shoulders especially. He has always felt it was his place to protect Dean, even before any of the boys knew of their future positions, but with the added threats coming from all sides I can see the strain on him. It nearly destroyed Caleb when Dean was dragged to hell, in all the years my son has been with me, it was the only time I found myself not only afraid for him, but at times, I hate to admit, afraid of him. The darkness that overtook him in those four months, the darkness the emanated from Sam as well, it was like nothing I had ever though possible to come from the boys I loved. I believe, if Dean hadn't been returned to us when he was, the two boys would have self-destructed.

But why am I thinking of the past? The present and future are what is at stake now and as time goes I want to hold out hope that we can stop this, but as our options dwindle, I feel we are being forced into a standoff in which none of us are going to come out the winners. As I sit, allowing myself a few moments of self-pity I hear Silas's phone ring in the next room. Little did the man know when it was decided that he, along with a few chosen hunters, would become my 'protection detail' that he would have to field calls when hunters were trying to get a hold of me. I had always prided myself at being available to whomever needed to speak with me, but times change and with the battle raging around us, I had to focus my attention on more important matters.

However, as I look up at Silas when he walks into the room, phone in hand, my gut starts shouting something's wrong. My world seemed to slow down as the younger hunter spoke, "It's Sam Winchester, he said it's important."

Standing I take the couple steps, closing the distance between myself and the other man. The boys know that we have set times to contact each other, so they wouldn't have to worry if they couldn't get a hold of me or I them. Not knowing what to expect I took a deep-breath as I removed the phone from Silas hand, the other man leaving the room, giving me privacy. "Sam, is everything all right?"

The silence from the other end was never a good sign; I could hear the younger man talking to who I could only hope was Dean in the background, "Sam?"

"Sorry, Mac…" I heard Sam's voice directed toward me a moment only for muffled words being spoken to someone else in the background, 'find out where he's at so I can tell Mac', again Sam's voice was louder, "Mac?"

"I'm here Sam, I'm sorry to be abrupt, but I have a few other things going on at the moment, did you boys find out something?" I hated taking a short tone with any of the boys when they called, but that is why we had certain times we called each other, so we could catch up then.

However, it was the next words out of Sam mouth that brought my world to a screeching halt. "Mac something's happened to Caleb"

I felt myself sit heavily in the chair behind me; it was almost as if my mind had shut down a moment as it tried to process the words that had just come through the phone. My mind wanted to tell me, that Sam was mistaken, Caleb was fine. I had just talked to him two days ago; he and Joshua were in California meeting with Victor the former Scholar. If something had happened, Joshua would have been calling me, not Sam.

"Mac? Are you there?" Sam's voice brought me back to reality.

"Caleb? What do you mean something's happened? He's in California with Joshua." My thoughts were finally catching up as I waited to an explanation.

"Mac, Caleb's in Texas, he was meeting up with Ethan to return his truck. Look Mac, Dean is on the phone with Ethan now, all we know is that Caleb is in Dallas General. Ethan is saying that there was a hit and run outside his precinct and Caleb was hurt. He's telling us that other than a concussion and some superficial wounds that Caleb's okay, but they are running some more tests, but he's not telling us why."

Running my hand over my face, I blow out a deep-breath; okay my son is still alive. "You said Dallas General right?" I was quickly writing the information down, I would call the hospital as soon as I hung up from Sam to find out what was going on and hopefully speak with Caleb.

"Yeah, look Dean and me are heading there now. Ethan and Elijah are staying in place until we arrive." Sam answered as I heard him moving around in the background, no doubt preparing to head for Texas.

"Where are you boys?" I asked. I needed to find out about Caleb, but I also knew Dean would stop at nothing to get to his best friend.

"We're in Arkansas; we should be there by morning." Sam answered as I heard a door close.

"Okay, I'll call you if I find out anything before you boys get there, just be careful." A quick 'okay and bye' was heard as Sam disconnected the call.

I sat the phone on the table before me and put my head in my hands a moment. I needed to clear my head and gather my thoughts. I heard a light knock on the door and looked up as Silas stepped into the room, "Is everything all right?"

Standing I handed the younger man his phone back, "I need you to call the airport, I need a flight to Dallas as soon as possible, Caleb's been hurt." Concern flashed across the hunter's face as he nodded then again left the room. I walked over to the desk and picked up the phone, calling information for the number to Dallas General.


	2. Chapter 2

Mackland Ames, the Doctor  
Part two  
Disclaimer: see part one

As I returned the phone to its base a million things were going through my mine, but only one thing was playing on my heart. My Son, a young man that has been such an important part of my life, who is my life, has amnesia. Not the type that results in not being able to recall the hit and run accident that placed him in the hospital. But according to the doctor I just finished talking with, it was a retrograde amnesia that resulted in my son not remembering anything about his past; his name, his friends, his family. He was totally lost, surrounded by men he saw as strangers, but who were men he would normally trust with his life.

I knew when the doctor and I discussed Caleb's desire to not have any visitors that it would upset Elijah and Ethan. According to the doctor the vice-cop had accompanied Caleb to the hospital, had been there when my son had first woken up and didn't know who he was, or who Ethan was. However Caleb needed this sense of control right now. He was a grown man and could have anyone he wanted barred from the room. I just hoped once Dean and Sam got to him that Caleb didn't force them away because Dean would not take that well. If I know the eldest Winchester at all he is breaking every speed limit law in order to reach his best friend.

I reached for the phone again, quickly dialing the all too familiar number as I pulled open the drawer of my desk, finding the needed file. "Sam, I need you boys to stop at the nearest library, I have to fax you something."

"Hold on a minute Mac." Sam said as I heard him try to cover the phone, relaying the request to Dean. 'Just do it Dean.' the younger man's voice returned to the receiver. "Sorry Mac, Dean's not thrilled with the side trip, he wants to know why?"

"I need to get you the paper work that will allow you access to Caleb medical information." I countered. So much for Dean's following orders without question. I'm secretly glad he has finally started being his own man, not waiting for other's to give him the okay, but damn if this time I really needed him to do as I asked.

Sam's voice drew my attention back to the phone, "Mac is something wrong? Did the doctor give you any more information?"

Should I tell them about the amnesia or hope that it will somehow correct itself before they arrive? However before I could answer Dean's voice came through the phone, "Damn it Mac, if you know something I should know before I get there, then tell me. Is Caleb okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I told myself it wasn't lying, just omitting certain information for the sake of keeping the young man on the other end of the phone from getting himself and his brother killed in an accident. "The doctor says that with some time and rest Caleb should be fine, nothings broken, just a moderate concussion, but he is awake. However, you know as well as I do that if you don't have the paperwork that proves your family there is no way you are going to get any of his medical information. Especially if they are still running any test."

"Why would they be running test Mac, if he's gonna be okay?" Dean's voice was getting the pissed tone he'd use if Sam or Caleb were keeping something from him and I really wasn't caring for it at the moment.

I glanced up as Silas walked into the room, motioning he had gotten us a flight. Nodding I returned my attention to Dean. "Look Dean, I know you are worried, but I need you to do this. It's going to be a few hours before I can get to him; Silas just informed me he got us a flight. I trust you to take care of things until I get there. Have Sam call Caroline as soon as you locate a fax, she will send the needed papers. I will see you boys soon. Please just be careful." My shoulder's slumped a little at Dean's clipped reply. He reminded me of his father when he did that. John hadn't handle fear and worry well either, both would become defensive, lashing out at those closest to them when they were under extreme duress.

Once hanging up I made one more phone call. This one to Caroline. I faxed her the documents, instructing her to fax them to Sam when he called. Finally hanging up the phone I grabbed my cell from its charger then my overnight bag from the closet. Leaving my office I met Silas at the front door and we quickly left, on our way to the airport.

A few hours later I was pacing in the middle of the Atlanta Airport. Our connection flight to Dallas was delayed because of the remnants of the latest hurricane to come through the Gulf. This was one of those times I really wished I possessed the ability to transport myself like Dean has said Castiel can do. I am so close, yet so far from my son. The only comfort I was taking was that Sam and Dean should have made it to the hospital by now. And as if confirmation needed to be made my phone rang. "Sam, are you boys there yet?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" I closed my eye's, rubbing them. I knew it would come back on me, but I had my reasons.

"I needed your brother to stay focused on getting you two to Dallas in one piece. I couldn't very well tell him the Caleb may not recognize him once he got there." I was still trying to wrap my own head around that information. In all my years as a Neurosurgeon, it was rare for a patient to completely lose their memories. I only recall one instance actually, but the young man then had recovered his memories within a few days. However with all my research I couldn't discover the moment that had triggered that recovery. The only thing I knew to do was to surround the patient with what was familiar and hope that would help.

"Mac, Dean is totally freaked out. When we walked into Caleb's room it was like looking into the eyes of a stranger, it was eerie. Dean keeps trying to interact with Caleb like normal and Caleb just seems to get more nervous and agitated." Sam seemed to almost ramble, a trait he had when he was worried or trying to come up with a solution to a problem.

"I'm sorry Sam; I know I should have mentioned it." Sitting heavily in an empty row of chairs I looked over at Silas who was sitting one aisle over. "Other than the amnesia, how is Caleb?" I needed someone I knew, someone I trusted to tell me how my son was. The doctor relayed Caleb's medical condition, but that was facts, not how he really was.

I heard Sam take a deep breath, then heard a door close in the background. "He's bruised up pretty good, one eye is swollen shut. He doesn't seem sure about leaving with us, but a part of Caleb is still in there somewhere because he didn't like the doctor's idea of staying in the psych ward until you go here. Both he and Dean jumped at that. I think that when they release him he will come with us just because he doesn't feel he has any other choice. Mac he's scared."

My son was scared. My brave son, the man who has faced so much in his life, who has overcome so much, who has seen true evil and never blinked is now scared. I could feel my heart drop to my stomach. When Caleb was younger and had just come to live with me, he would have nightmares. I remember many nights of rushing into his room, him screaming at whatever terrors were playing out before his wide, glazed eyes. I would hold him until he calmed enough to fall back to sleep in my arms. I had always been there for him when he was scared, but now I was still hundreds of miles away, of no use at all to him.

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees as I spoke again, "Look Sam, if Caleb is going to be released soon, I'm just going to get a car and drive up to Jim's place, you boys meet us there. Hopefully if we get Caleb somewhere familiar it will help."

"Do you really think it will?" Sam sounded so young, so unsure, not a normal sound heard from the grown man on the other end.

"Do you want the doctor's answer or his father's answer?" I asked quietly.

"Both" He responded.

"The doctor in me doesn't know for sure, amnesia is something that is very tricky to treat. You usually just have to wait and hope the memories will return. The father in me prays that it will be as easy as him coming home." I learned long ago that nothing will change a scientific point of view quicker than when your child is sick or injured. It's then that you will grasp onto any ray of hope you can find, pray for any miracle that could be out there. Being a parent caused you to have faith in the improbable and the impossible for the sake of your child.

"I think he might be released in a few hours. We'll head toward the farm then. I'll call you again from the road. What should we do if he starts asking questions?" Sam asked, sounding tired.

"Be as truthful as possible, if you try to lie about something and he realizes it, he won't trust us. Don't go into any details, but tell him the truth, or as much as you can. Just remember he doesn't know what we do, it would be like telling a person on the street. His first instinct will be to get away from you because he'll think you're crazy." The thought of trying to explain the Brotherhood to Caleb at this time added a whole other set of worries to my soul. "And ask Dean to keep his gun out of sight." I knew asking the Winchester's to disarm would be like asking a Demon to attend Sunday church services, but they needed to at least keep them concealed.

"I'll do my best Mac. We'll get him home safe; I'll talk to you soon." Sam answered as I heard a door open and close again.

"I never doubted you would, be careful, I'll see you boys soon." With a quick goodbye I heard the line disconnect as Sam hung up. Slipping my phone back in my pocket I put my head in my hands a moment still trying to process everything.

I didn't hear Silas approach until he touched my shoulder. "Everything all right Mac?"

I saw genuine concern on the younger man's face. "As well as we can expect." I stood slowly, reaching for my bag in the chair next to me. "We need to get a car and head toward the farm. Dean and Sam are going to be taking Caleb there when he's discharged, hopefully in a few hours."

Silas nodded, "I'll have a couple of guys drive down from New York and meet us there. Until we know for sure this wasn't something against you or the future Triad I believe the extra detail is warranted."

We both headed toward the car rental desk, "You know I'm still not use to this protection detail thing and Dean isn't going to like the extra people at the farm."

Silas reached out, stopping my forward motion. "Your son, the future Knight, entrusted your safety to me. It is a responsibility I take very seriously, you are the Scholar. I know the farm is protected, but I have to think of all the possibilities, supernatural or not. With the future Triad coming to the farm I need to make sure everything is secure, especially with Caleb injured. The future Guardian will understand."

Releasing my arm we continued toward the counter. "Thank you Silas, for everything. I just need to focus on getting my son home safe and helping him recover."

"Then let's get you safely to the farm and you can start to figure out what you need to do to do just that." Silas nodded as he pulled his phone out, while I stepped up to the rental counter getting a vehicle that will get me that much closer to Caleb.

_A/N: what do you think so far? still okay? I see one more part coming, it will be the longest I think so it will take me some time, I have to get what's in my head onto the paper and it not sound totally crazy (or maybe totally crazy is good, who knows) anyway, let me know what ya think and I'll see ya soon! Thanks for checking it out-Montez_


	3. Chapter 3

Mackland Ames, the Father  
Part three  
Disclaimer: see part one.

I had just returned the phone to its base, I rested my arms on the desk I was seated behind and placed my head on top of my arms. The emotions I had been holding at bay for the last nearly three days, since receiving that first phone call from Sam telling me my son had been hurt finally came flooding to the surface and I cried. Actually I did more than cry, I sobbed like a baby. I was thankful I was still inside the Tomb, but honestly if I had taken the call in the kitchen surrounded by Silas and his men I would have probably done the same damn thing. My son was safe. My son remembered.

The first forty-eight hours of this harrowing ordeal had been bad enough, but I knew that my son had been surrounded by men who would protect him with their lives if need be. First it had been Ethan and Elijah Matthews, then Sam and Dean. Then when they had finally made it back to the farm I was here. Even though Caleb didn't recognize me as his father, I was here and I could protect him.

One of the hardest things I think I have ever had to encounter in my life, and there had been many soul-crushing events in my past that I had conquered, was watching my beloved son walk through the door of Jim's farmhouse and seeing the confused, lost and scared look reflected in his golden eye's. All I wanted to do when he walked in was rush to him and wrap my arms around him, but I knew it would only confuse and frighten him more since I appeared to be a stranger to him. My heart lodged in my throat when he insisted I call him Caleb when I referred to him as Son, though as a doctor I understood the need for specifics in situations like this, but as I father it felt like I had been punched. My heart then broke when I placed my hand on his shoulder and he recoiled from me.

After the disaster of our 'introduction' a part of me was relieved when Sam intervened and offered to take Caleb upstairs to his room to rest, another part of me was devastated, my son didn't know me. Once Caleb left the room Dean had voiced his concern that maybe this was a good thing, that if the world was heading toward Hell in a hand basket then maybe one of us could go out without the burden of what we knew hanging over our heads. Secretly a part of me agreed with his line of thought, Caleb's life had been a roller-coaster of evil and supernatural since he was six-years old. But there was no way I could live without my son, as selfish as it sounds; I needed my son to continue the job I had been thrust into. Being the Scholar had been a difficult enough position when Jim and John were still alive, but once my brother's were killed the strain I felt myself under would have drown me many times over had it not been for my son.

When Dean entered the Tomb hours later telling Sam and myself that he had just explained the essence of what the Brotherhood was I actually felt my head swim. As he continued to explain it was because Caleb had found his Journal and read it, then found Dean's gravesite in the field adjacent to the pond I knew he had done the right thing. It wasn't until we entered the kitchen that my world again came to a crashing halt as I saw my son's hunters ring lying in the middle of Jim's kitchen table next to a still full mug of coffee. Caleb had reverted to a survival instinct so ingrained in his being that even with amnesia he had pulled from his past what he had done as a child, he had ran away.

I ordered Silas's men to start searching the property, normally Caleb would know this property with his eye's closed, maybe instinct would override his inability to remember and he would have taken to the woods. But Dean's yell from the yard dashed the hope that Caleb was near, the rented SUV I had gotten in Atlanta was missing, my son had left the protection the farm provided without his ring. As a psychic he was naturally vulnerable to supernatural entities that were out there, but as a hunter, without his ring, he was also vulnerable to the Demon's that were after the Brotherhood, who were after Sam and Dean and who would use anyone they could to get to them. Proof of that had been Bobby's possession. Though Caleb had the same protective tattoo the Winchester's sported, he was apparently still vulnerable since Bobby also wore an anti-possession amulet as well as his hunter's ring and the Demon's had found a way around that.

I immediately put a call into Caroline to start tracking if Caleb used any of his credit cards, while Dean and Sam headed out in the Impala looking for him. A half an hour later Caroline called saying that one of the cards had been used about thirty miles south of New Haven. I called Dean and Sam giving them the address, then waited. When the boys called from the gas station they said the clerk remembered Caleb because of the bruising that still littered his face, but that when he left he had headed north.

I shook my head, realizing he had laid a false trail, even in his amnesic state he knew how to cover his tracks. It was then that Dean came up with the idea to get Castiel involved. Unlike the Winchester's who the Angel could not track without the use of a cell phone, Caleb was open to any Angel who wanted to find him. So again I waited. I paced the house, looking at pictures Jim had taken over the years. Teenage pictures of my son, of him with the Winchester's when they were younger. Pictures of John and Jim themselves, some with me in them, some with the boys in them and some with my fallen brothers in candid moments that they didn't even realize someone had snapped the picture.

Then there was one of Caleb, it looked recent, possibly taken in the past year. It was here at the farm, I could only assume that Dean had taken it. Though he never let others know about it, the eldest Winchester boy had a knack for photography. I use to see him sneak Jim's camera around the house when he was younger, though I'm sure Jim knew all about it, since the boy was always able to find it and it always had film in it. Dean would snap shots of others when they weren't looking; his father working on the Impala, me with books and journals spread across the desk in the Tomb, Jim with his head bowed in prayer in his study. There were also pictures of Sam when he was smaller, his little cherub face covered in mud from playing with the dogs near the pond, or the little boy pouting on the back porch from some unknown travesty he was sure had been thrust upon him, possibly being told no, that he couldn't go on a hunt with his father. There had been a time when Sam had begged his father to go, but when the teenage years arrived all that changed.

Then there were the pictures of Caleb. How Dean was ever able to catch my son off guard, with the strong psychic link they shared was beyond me, but you could tell, Caleb had not known he was being photographed. One was of a teenage Caleb in the loft of the barn. It was someplace he would always go for refuge when things overwhelmed him, at least until he was ready to talk to me. The far away look in his eye's pulled at my soul, the expression was one of pain and loss, I could only assume it was around an anniversary of his parents death, that was usually the only time he would almost withdraw completely from everyone, even Dean.

However the photo I was looking at now, it seemed to tear at my heart. Caleb was sitting behind the wheel of his old blue Jeep that John and Bobby had gotten him when he was fifteen. They had spent every free minute they had working on it to have it running by the time Caleb turned sixteen. I hated that vehicle, it was a deathtrap in my eyes, but my son loved the damn thing. He drove it up until John died. It was then that he had parked it behind Jim's barn, covered it in a tarp and took over driving the large black truck that had belonged to John.

But now he was sitting behind the wheel, staring off, only seeing what was playing in his mind, I could only presume to know. It could have been memories of John and Jim, of happier times when we would gather on the farm for holidays or school breaks, or just for a long weekend. A chance to be normal, to take a day to be a family, without the supernatural dictating every move we made. Or it could have been the thoughts of what was laying ahead of us, Demon's and Angel's, Lucifer and Michael and their demand for Sam and Dean to be their Vessels in the epic battle of the Apocalypse. But whatever the thoughts, there was a glimmer of hope in his golden eye's. It was a hope that I had seen many times over the last several months. Dean compared it to Castiel's blind faith that God would rally in the end and ride in, saving the day. Jim would have been proud of my son's unwavering faith in the Devine, considering how Caleb use to fight tooth and nail to not have to attend Sunday services when he was younger.

In that photograph I found the faith that my son would be found and he would be safe and maybe, just maybe if God was on our side he would remember who he was and I would get my son back. It was as I laid that photograph on the desk in the Tomb that the phone rang, "We found him Mac, he's okay and he remembers us."

Sam's words echoed in my head, Caleb was safe and he remembered. "Can I talk to him?" I could feel my heart rate increase, I just needed to hear the familiarity in my son's voice that had been gone in the short time he had returned to the farm, I just needed to hear his voice. Tears filled my eyes when I heard the deep, though shaken voice of my son, "Dad?"

_'Dad'_. It was a word I had waited months to hear after I had adopted Caleb all those years ago. It finally coming after I had been injured on a rare hunt with Jim and Bobby, it had been the first real scare he had since he had come to live with me. I had been severely hurt and he, along with my father, had feared for my recovery. It had reminded Caleb so much of the losses he had endured throughout his life of those he had allowed into his life. I had been the first allowed in after so many years of him pushing others away and he had feared he was losing me. However, hearing it now started to heal the pain and fear I had been carrying around for the last several hours, for the last several days, knowing my son was lost and vulnerable in a world that was quite literally gunning for him, to get to us. "Oh thank God, Caleb. Son are you okay?"

I sat heavily in the chair as I waited for his response, "I'm okay…" A pause allowed me to hear the deep-breath my son released, "I'm so sorry Dad, I…"

I had to stop him, he had nothing to be sorry for, "You have nothing to be sorry for, I'm just so happy to hear your voice."

Again another sigh was heard and something inside me twisted, something was off. "Dad, I know what happened; I know why I didn't remember…it was Lucifer."

I felt my breath hitch; Lucifer had gotten to my son. The Devil had done something to my son that erased his memory of his family, of me. "Are you sure you are okay? Just come back to the farm, we'll talk about it; you can tell me what you remember. We'll figure it out together." I needed him here. I needed to see him, to touch him, to hold him in my arms to know my son was really safe, that the Devil hadn't hurt my son in some way.

"There's something I have to do first. I know you won't understand but…I need to go to North Carolina." Caleb's word broke; this was something he was begging me to understand even though every cell in my body was screaming for him to return home, to return to me.

North Carolina was where his childhood home was. Where his parents had died in the apparent murder-suicide. I couldn't begin to fathom why he needed to go to the place that held such horrific memories for him. However, I couldn't let him do it alone, "I can come with you. I'll meet you at the airport and we can go together." My hand shook as I held that framed picture in my hand, a tear slipping free.

"I need to do this on my own Dad. Its bad enough Deuce isn't letting me out of his sight. Please understand. I promise I'm okay, but I have to do this. I'll be back at the farm tomorrow night, but I have to go." The resolve in Caleb's voice told me it was something he alone had to deal with and as much as it pained me, I needed to respect his wishes, even above my own.

"Please Caleb, just be careful and come back to me safe, okay?" My voice cracked and I hoped he didn't hear it.

"I will, I'll see you tomorrow night." With that the phone disconnected. I returned it to its base and I cried.

It was almost another thirty-hours before I heard the rumble of the Impala pulling into the drive. Sam had called a while ago, letting me know they were back in Kentucky and would be at the farm within hours. Over the last day I had hardly slept, when I did it was fitful, with nightmares that my mind kept playing out of Lucifer doing something horrible to my son. It was now the wee-hours of the morning, much like the day when they had returned to the farm with an amnesic Caleb, but this time instead of fear and uncertainty in my son's eyes I prayed for the recognition of my son remembering who I was.

I couldn't stop myself as I rushed out the backdoor and down the stairs as the car came to a stop. However, I was proud of myself for not running toward the vehicle when the engine cut off. I could see Caleb's silhouette through the passenger's window of the Impala as it sat in the shadow of the porch light. The all too familiar creak of the doors let me know the boys were exiting, but it was the six foot plus frame of my son that I stared at, that I watched as he slammed the door shut and finally turned to face me. A few steps brought him into the edge of the ring of light from the porch. The swelling was gone from his face, only the bruising and few cuts remained, but it was the tear-filled eye's that finally propelled me forward. Tn three long strides I was face to face with Caleb. I finally saw recognition looking back at me.

"Dad?"

That was all it took to break my resolve as I pulled my son to me, my arms holding him tight. Many times over the years I would try and hug my son, sometimes he would relent to a quick embrace, other's he would almost shrug it off, not wanting to tarnish his 'macho' image he tired to maintain. However this time was different. This time I felt him latch onto me with the same intensity that I held him. I actually felt a shutter through his body as I heard a quiet sob escape my grown son. He had been scared, he had been alone and frightened and in this moment his was a child again. A child who needed the comfort of his father to help chase away the nightmares. I raised my hands and took his face in them, pulling him back just enough to see into his eyes. There was relief in them, relief he was home, relief he remembered me, and relief that he finally felt safe again. With a whispered voice I spoke, "I've got you Caleb, you're safe now, you're safe."

With a slight nod and another tear slipping free I felt him pull me back in and I felt his body relax as he allowed me to give him the harbor of safety only a father could provide. Tomorrow would bring us the next challenge, but tonight I was his father and my job was to protect him from his nightmares and for a little while that's exactly what I would do.

_A/N: I mentioned part of a story from Sensue's 'suitcase of memories' story collection. Hope she didn't mind. This my final installment for this story. Thanks to everyone who read my story and thanks to Ridley for the wonderful 'Still Unbroken' fic that I just can't seem to let go of. Anyway, until next time-Montez_


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